[ad_1]
A suspect in the murder of a Midway District adult bookstore clerk appeared in San Diego Superior Court on Friday, but did not respond when asked to enter his plea on a murder charge .
A lawyer has pleaded not guilty for Shaun Ward, 39, who on Thursday refused to leave prison to attend his scheduled arraignment.
The hearing was postponed until Friday after the district attorney’s office filed the murder charge.
Ward is accused of stabbing Diane Spagnuolo, 65, to death at the X-Spot adult bookstore on Midway Drive, where she worked as a clerk.
A customer found his body near the reception desk around 1:45 p.m. Monday, San Diego police said. Homicide investigators released photos of the suspect through security cameras and took Ward into custody around 11 p.m. that day.
Investigators believe Spagnuolo was stabbed to death in a robbery.
Spagnuolo’s daughter Alexis Wylie, 28, and other family members showed up for Thursday’s hearing. Outside the courtroom, Wylie said authorities informed her of her mother’s death around 1 a.m. Tuesday, after struggling to find her current address.
She called the shocking notification “surreal”, with relief that “someone could be held responsible for this”.
Wylie said she and her uncles and aunts came to court because “we want to face this person, show that we are not afraid of this person”.
She described her mother as a hard worker with a generous heart.
“Her jobs were her life,†her daughter said.
Spagnuolo had worked at the bookstore for 24 years and had a job in the Salvation Army, as a textile processor and saleswoman for 16 years until 2012. Then, Wylie said, her mother left that job and became deputy director of El Cajon. mobile home park where she lived.
“She was a very nice person. She was always thinking of others and she always wanted to have a good time and make sure other people were having fun too, â€said Wylie.
Wylie added that her mother was also caring and generous. An employee of a nearby business said on Monday that Spagnuolo had tried to help the homeless in the area when she could.
“Whenever she could, she would give,†Wylie said.
Twitter: @pdrepard
[ad_2]
